This invention relates to fuses in general, and in particular to a female fuse with a fuse clip insert molded into a one piece fuse link and thermal block.
Prior art automotive fuses have a number of significant drawbacks associated with their design and operation. State of the art fuses are, for the most part, male, blade type fuses. There fuses plug into fuse blocks which have metal, spring clips. During operation and overload conditions, these spring clips can anneal, causing them to lose their flexibility. When this happens, not only must the fuse be replaced, but the fuse block must be disassembled to replace the clips. This is expensive and labor intensive.
Another problem with male type automotive fuses is that the fuse block contains a connecting piece, such as a double female clip, between the bus bar and the fuse blades. This extra component adds additional cost, increases the size of the product, and requires additional labor to assemble.
Prior art patents have met with limited success in seeking a solution to these problems. Yazaki, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,906, shows a male fuse and a mechanism for trapping the link in the body. The purpose is for preventing the housing from being deformed and discolored due to generation of heat. Jung et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,055,866, shows a moveable heat accumulator to vary the overload characteristics of the link. Matsunaga, U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,052, uses high melt temperatures to avoid the "M" effect. In the Jung et al. and Matsunaga et al. patents, the accumulators are separate pieces added to the link and raise the cost of manufacturing.